K-Wings school South Carolina

Wednesday

Nov 7, 2012 at 11:02 PMNov 7, 2012 at 11:05 PM

K-Wings win, 5-3

Mark C. McGlothlen

The school bell sounded early for the Kalamazoo Wings(6-4-0-0) on Wednesday morning as they battled the South Carolina Stingrays (4-7-0-1) at 10:30 am for the annual Education Day game at Wings Stadium.

Students from Centreville, Mendon, Three Rivers and White Pigeon were among the nearly 5,000 students that packed the arena to cheer, or in some cases, scream the K-Wings to a 5-3 victory.

While the students kept the stands rocking, the K-Wings did their part on the ice as well. Hoping to snap a three-game losing streak, the K-Wings jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Brett Lysak sent the puck past the Stingrays goaltender Shawn Hunwick.

The K-Wings added to that lead later in the period on an Elgin Reid power play blast from the blue line to give the K-Wings a 2-0 advantage. Lysak and Sam Ftorek assisted on the goal.

Tyler Johnson put the Stingrays on the board midway through the period with his first goal of the year.

Regaining their two-goal lead late in the period, Dustin Cloutier scored his second on the year, but the Stingrays Mike Hamilton cut the lead to a single goal with only 36 seconds left in the period.

Up by a goal and outshooting the Stingrays 16-12, K-Wings coach Nick Bootland was left scratching his head after the first 20 minutes.

“I thought we made two mistakes that ended up in the back of the net,” Bootland said. “The reality is we worked real hard and as a coach I was a little disappointed to only be up by one because I felt we came out with the start we wanted.”

Holding the Stingrays scoreless in the second, the K-Wings padded their lead with a goal by Aaron Clarke.

“There was a big emphasis before the game and during the intermission because we’ve been struggling (in the second period),” Bootland said. “To not allow them to score a goal in the period is a huge step in the right direction.”

An unassisted goal by Alden Hirschfeld brought the Stingrays to within a goal midway into the third period, but the K-Wings Lysak put the game away with his second goal of the day to give them a 5-3 lead.

Lysak, who had a three-point game, spoke of the importance of the win following the game.

“We had a three-game losing streak and that’s not acceptable around here,” he said. “We know that, the organization expects more from us.”

The two teams will face-off against each other again on Friday night.

“I am sure it is going to be a hard fought battle,” Lysak said of the rematch. “They work hard and are a young team. We have to do the same thing we did today to be successful on Friday.”

Bootland knows the Stingrays will adjust following the loss.

“We just have to remember what it took to beat them,” Bootland said. “We have to understand that we played a solid game and paid a price. We paid a price physically, we worked our tails off. You have to be prepared to do that again.”

With the win, the K-Wings pull to within one point of the second place Fort Wayne Komets, a team they will face on Saturday night as they conclude their five-game home stand. The K-Wings and Stingrays meet again on Friday night. Both games begin at 7:30 pm.

K-Wings News and Notes

Approaching Milestones: With his goal yesterday, Aaron Clarke is just two shy from 100 on his career. Kory Karlander, who had an assist in yesterday’s game, is just two points away from 1,000 points in his career.